Hidden From Sight
by JessicaStone134
Summary: PC Beth Green and PC Leon Taylor assist a woman who has just been mugged. But when the victim starts to take a deep interest in Beth, will anyone be there to fit the pieces together and save her?
1. Knocked Down

**Chapter 1**

It was a windy September day, and PC Beth Green had just got into the station from being on patrol in the cold. She made her way up to the canteen, aiming to grab a nice, steaming cup of tea and a cake. She shivered as she stood waiting for her tea, but she finally wrapped her frozen hands round the mug and walked over to the nearest table. She sat down and let her muscles relax, if only for a few minutes. The first sip of hot tea was bliss, the second warmed all her body up. She took a bite of cake and looked around. She was the only one in the canteen, which was odd. She was about to get up and see if there was a briefing on or something when Leon put his head round the door.

"Beth? We've just had a shout. A woman's been mugged on the high street. Meet you in the car?" Leon asked. Beth sighed but nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be done in a minute." Beth called. Leon nodded and disappeared. Beth gulped down the rest of the tea, burning her mouth and throat slightly, and crammed in the last of the cake. She scooped her hat off the table and jogged out after Leon, back into the cold.

* * *

The car pulled into a space in front of a chemists on the high street, the blue lights reflecting off the shop fronts. Beth made sure her coat was zipped up nice and tight before getting out the car. A man approached the car, signalling for the officers to follow him. They walked into a small cafe, where they saw a shaken woman sat with her hands glued to a mug.

"I saw it happen with my own eyes! She'd just left here when a man just ran into her and grabbed her bag!" the man blurted out in a barely concealed excited tone.

"Is she hurt?" Leon asked, looking between the man and the victim.

"She was knocked over, but a passer by helped her up and sat her down in here, then I called you." the man said in a pleased voice.

"Thank you Mr...?" Beth asked.

"Lisbon, Uri Lisbon." Uri answered.

"Ok Mr Lisbon, have you got CCTV of the event?" Leon asked, leading Uri to the back of the shop. Beth walked slowly over to the woman, who had pale blonde hair and dark brown eyes.

"Excuse me?" Beth said quietly, causing the woman to jump, and the coffee in her mug slopped onto the formica table. The woman tried to get a napkin out the holder, but her hands were shaking too much. "It's ok, I got it." Beth plucked a napkin from the holder and wiped up the coffee.

"Thanks." the woman said in a small voice.

"What's your name?" Beth asked, pulling out her notepad.

"Tessa Nelson." she replied.

"Hi Tessa, I'm PC Beth Green. Mr Lisbon told me and my colleague that you've been mugged, is that right?" Beth asked gently. Tessa looked up, and Beth could see her properly. She had dark, purple bags under her eyes, and she was very pale looking. To Beth, it seemed that Tessa hadn't been eating properly. Tessa nodded in reply to Beth's question.

"I had literally just walked out the door when some guy ran into me and knocked me over. I dropped my handbag and he grabbed it and ran off." Tessa explained, looking back at her coffee.

"Do you know what he looked like?" Beth asked, pen poised.

Tessa thought back, but her memory had just gone blank, "I can't remember, I'm sorry." A tear dripped off Tessa's face onto the table, Beth handed her a tissue. "Thanks."

"That's alright. It's ok that you can't remember, but if you do, here's my card with my number on. You can give me a call anytime if you remember anything ok?" Beth said, pulling her card out her duty pouch and handing it to Tessa.

"I will, thank you. You've been very nice to me." Tessa said with a small smile.

"That's ok. Now, me and my colleague are going to try and get CCTV showing what happened. So can I have your address and number please, and if we find anything I can call you and let you know. Is that ok?" Beth asked.

"Yeah that's fine. My address is 13 Mayweed Close, and my number is 07951734908." Tessa replied.

"Thanks. At some point we'll also need to get a statement off you, but we can do that when you're less shaken up. Would you like a lift home?" Beth asked.

Tessa paused before answering, "Yes please, if it's not out of your way."

"Of course it isn't. I'll just go get my partner." Beth said with a reassuring smile as she got up and walked to the desk, looking for Leon.

* * *

"Is she ok?" Leon asked as he came out the back with a CCTV disc.

"She's a bit shaken up, but she said that she's unharmed." Beth replied.

"Can she remember anything about the attacker?" Leon questioned.

Beth shook her head, "No, but I think it's because she's trying to suppress what just happened. I gave her my card and took her details, and I told her we'd ring her if we got anything and that she'll need to give a statement soon."

"Ok then. Mr Lisbon was helpful." Leon said, rolling his eyes. Beth laughed, she knew the type that Mr Lisbon was; they thought that just because they had seen the event and called the police that they were heroes.

"I said we'd take Tessa home, are you all finished with Mr Lisbon?" Beth asked as they walked back to the table Tessa was sat at.

"Yeah, he said if he remembered anything else he would get in contact." Leon answered, walking out to open the car. Beth stopped in front of Tessa's table.

"Ready to go?" she asked her. Tessa nodded and followed Beth out of the cafe into the waiting squad car.

* * *

They pulled up in front of a small but tidy terraced house. The two officers got out of the car, making sure that Tessa was ok. Before Tessa unlocked her door, she turned around.

"Do you want to come in for a tea? You must be frozen from being out here." Tessa asked hesitantly. Leon and Beth looked at each other before nodding and following Tessa into her house. They walked through to the kitchen, where Tessa offered them a seat. The kitchen was neat, but Beth had noticed as they walked through the house that there didn't seem to be very many personal affects. She pushed that to the back of her mind as Tessa passed her a hot cup of tea.

"Thanks." Leon said gratefully, taking a long sip.

"No, thanks for helping me." Tessa said quietly, sitting opposite Beth.

"It's our job." Beth said with a smile, drinking her own tea.

"Oh." Tessa said, looking a bit put out. Leon exchanged a glance with Beth. The officers placed their cups on the table and got up, picking their hats up.

"We need to get back to the station to process this case, but thanks for the tea." Leon said with a small smile, indicating to Beth to follow him.

"Are you sure you can't stay longer?" Tessa asked.

"Sorry, we have to get back and try and catch your mugger. Take care." Beth said as she followed Leon out the house. They ran to the car, quickly pulling the doors shut, just sitting in the relative warmth of the car. They looked back at Tessa's house, where she was stood at the door, watching them.

"That was a bit weird." Leon commented, starting the engine and putting the heating on full.

"Hmm, maybe she's just in shock and latched on to us because we helped her." Beth said, not looking back at the house as they pulled away.

"Maybe, but I still think it was a bit strange." Leon replied.

"Let's just concentrate on trying to find her mugger." Beth answered, looking out of the window.

* * *

Back at the station, after another cup of tea, the two officers were sat in a room watching CCTV from outside the cafe where Tessa was mugged.

"Here we go, this is her coming out now." Leon said, his finger ready to push pause as Tessa's attacker came into view.

"Stop it there." Beth said, and Leon hit pause. The man who had knocked Tessa down had his hood up and his back to the camera. They couldn't tell if he was black or white, or how old he was roughly.

"Brilliant. Looks like we're going to have to go back out to the neighbouring shops, see if anyone saw what the mugger looked like, or if there's any more CCTV which can give us a better picture than this crap one." Leon groaned, sighing.

"Let's hope that Tessa remembers something as well, otherwise it looks like we're not going to be able to catch him." Beth said with a sigh, getting out of the comfy chair and walking back out to the patrol car.

* * *

As the officers were walking up and down the high street in the search of CCTV, Beth's mind kept wandering back to Tessa. There had been something not quite right about her, but she couldn't think what it was. She pushed it out of her head, chiding herself for probably seeing more to this case than there was. She brought her mind back to the present, concentrating on the task at hand. But even then, there was this niggling at the back of her mind, pushing her to connect the dots. Beth shook her head and followed after Leon, pushing the doubts and the niggling to the back of her mind.


	2. ExGirlfriend

**Chapter 2**

A few days after Tessa's attack, she had come into the station to give her statement. When she walked into reception, she had asked to see PC Green, but Mel, who was on the desk that morning, had told her that PC Green wasn't in, and would it be ok to get PC Taylor instead? Tessa had begrudgingly agreed; Mel just thought it was because Tessa felt more comfortable with a woman. Leon had taken her statement, and then she had gone with not another word. Leon and Beth had found some more CCTV showing the accident, but the only thing it showed them was that the attacker was white and about 5'9 height. That narrowed it down to about half of the male population of Canley, which didn't help them at all.

* * *

It was early morning, and Beth had just rolled out of bed. She was sat in the living room, clutching her morning cup of tea, just staring into space, slowly waking up. As she finished her tea, she plodded upstairs to get ready for work. Smithy had given her and Leon one more day to try and find Tessa's attacker, otherwise they would have to temporarily close the case until more information came to light. Beth hated that they hadn't solved the case, but she accepted that her and Leon were more helpful out on patrol than working on a case which currently wasn't going anywhere. Beth brushed her hair slowly, tying it up into a bun before pulling on some jeans and a pale blue t-shirt. She applied her make-up and shrugged on her leather jacket. She headed back downstairs, pulling on her boots, gloves, and wrapping her scarf around her neck. It was getting colder and colder every day, much to Beth's chagrin. She grabbed her keys off the hook, picked her bag up off the floor and left the house, hurrying to her car to escape the cold. She waved to her neighbour as she got in and drove off for the station.

* * *

Beth was at the half way point of her shift. She had been paired with Sally for the day, and thankfully Smithy had assigned them to the patrol car, so they hadn't been out in the cold too much. As they walked into the station to grab some lunch before going back on patrol, Beth's mobile started to ring. Her and Sally paused on the ramp into the station, Beth fumbling in her duty pouch for her phone. She finally pulled it out and frowned at the unrecognised number on the small screen.

"Beth Green." she said into it. There was a pause, and then a woman answered.

"PC Green? It's Tessa here, Tessa Nelson? I was the woman mugged earlier in the week." Tessa said, gripping the phone in her hand.

"Hi Tessa, everything ok?" Beth asked as Sally gave her a confused look.

"Erm, yes, I suppose so." Tessa answered.

"Uh, can I ask why you're ringing me then?" Beth asked carefully.

"Oh, oh yes, course you can. Well last night, I remembered what the attacker looked like." Tessa said hurriedly, flustered.

"Ok, would you be able to tell me what you remembered?" Beth asked, signalling for Sally to hand her a pen and paper.

"Well yes, but could we do it face to face? I'd be happier doing it that way." Tessa asked, holding her breath.

Beth took a deep breath, knowing that she wouldn't be getting a lunch break today, "Of course it is."

"How about the small coffee shop on the corner of Menard Street?" Tessa suggested.

"That's fine. I'll see you there in about ten minutes." Beth confirmed before hanging up.

"What was that about?" Sally asked as they pair walked into the station.

"Remember the case me and Leon have been working on, about the woman who was mugged?" Sally nodded and Beth continued, "That was her. She's said that she remembers something about her attacker, and we're going to meet at a coffee shop so she can tell me."

Sally pulled a face, "Why couldn't she tell you over the phone? Or even come into the station?"

Beth paused before answering, "I don't know. But when we were dealing with her after the mugging, I had this feeling that something wasn't quite right with her."

"Do you want me to come with you then? We can grab some lunch after?" Sally suggested.

Beth relaxed slightly, "Thanks Sal, that would be great." The two women turned and headed back out the station to the patrol car.

* * *

Sally pulled the patrol car to a smooth stop outside the small cafe. People were hurrying into it, trying to get some respite from the bitter wind that had suddenly come from nowhere. The officers zipped their jackets up tightly, opened the car door and ran for the cafe, Sally pressing the lock button over her shoulder. They entered the cafe and visibly relaxed. They may have only been in the cold for a minute, but the wind was the one which chilled you to the very bone.

"I really hope Smithy is going to let us keep patrolling in the car, I really don't fancy being out on foot patrol!" Sally said, rubbing her hands together.

Beth shivered just at the thought, "Well, we'll just have to avoid him so he won't get the chance to send us out on foot patrol."

"Beth?" A voice called from the right of the officers. They both turned and saw Tessa sat at a table on her own, a small mug of coffee in front of her. Beth and Sally exchanged looks before slowly meandering through all the other tables and chairs to get to Tessa.

"Hi Tessa, this is my colleague PC Armstrong." Beth said, introducing the pair.

"Nice to meet you Tessa." Sally said pleasantly. Tessa shot her a filthy look before turning to Beth.

"I didn't know you were bringing someone." Tessa said almost accusingly.

"We're going for lunch afterwards, that's why. Do you want another coffee?" Beth asked.

"No thank you." Tessa said curtly, pulling her hands onto her lap.

"So what information did you remember about your mugger?" Beth asked, pulling her notebook out her pocket. Tessa watched as Sally went to get the coffee's, and as soon as she was out of earshot she began to talk to Beth.

"Well he was a bit taller than me, maybe 5'9? And he was white." Tessa said. Beth scribbled that down and looked up at Tessa to see if she was about to say anything more.

"Anything else?" Beth asked, thanking Sally as she handed her a latte.

"Erm yes, he had dark hair." Tessa added. Beth added that to her list.

"Is that it?" Beth asked, knowing what Tessa was going to say.

"Yes, isn't that enough?" she asked.

"Not really, you see there are a lot of men in Canley who fit that description, we would need a bit more than that." Sally said. Tessa completely ignored what Sally had just said.

"Surely you must have a lead by now?" Tessa asked incredulously.

"I'm afraid not Tessa. We've had to temporarily shut the case; we can't even identify the attacker. If any new information comes to light then we can re-open it, but for now, we've done all we can." Beth said sympathetically.

"But I've just given you some more information!" Tessa argued, her voice rising.

"I know, but we already had that information, and we still don't have any solid suspects. I'm sorry." Beth said, really meaning it.

"So it was all a waste of time then. I won't get justice. Is that what you're saying?" Tessa said in a pissed off voice.

"If we can get a more solid description of your mugger, then we might be able to find the suspect and question them. But as it stands, the description is just too vague." Sally informed her.

"I wasn't talking to you." Tessa snapped. Sally looked shocked.

"Miss Nelson, we didn't have to come here and talk to you, but we did. PC Armstrong is my colleague and friend, so I'd appreciate it if you treated her with respect. Now we've got to go. If you remember anything else, ring the station. Bye." Beth said abruptly. Not many people pissed her off, but there was something about Tessa that really riled her.

"Beth I'm sorry, please wait..." Tessa begged.

Beth ignored her, walking out with Sally, back to their patrol car.

* * *

Sally and Beth were now sat in a different cafe on the other side of town, each with a hot drink in front of them. Sally was eating a jacket potato while Beth was eating a Panini. They hadn't really discussed Tessa while in the car, but Sally thought that she should say something.

"I see what you meant about there being something off with her." Sally said hesitantly, not knowing if Beth was still pissed off.

"I know. I just can't believe how rude she was to you! And I honestly don't know why she rang me and got us to go all the way there just for her to tell us something we already knew." Beth said, still slightly annoyed, putting down the last piece of her Panini and sipping her tea.

"The way she acted was like she was jealous of me because I was with you." Sally said after some thought. Beth looked up at Sally and nodded.

"That's exactly what I thought, but I wasn't sure if I was just imagining it. It's like when I used to go out with really over-protective boys who would throw a hissy fit if I bought someone else out with me." Beth replied.

"Has she got any previous?" Sally asked, finishing off her jacket potato.

"I haven't checked because I didn't need to. But I think that's the first thing I'll be doing when we get back to the nick." Beth said in a tired voice.

"Do you think she'll try ringing you again?" Sally asked curiously.

"I don't know, but I really hope not." Beth answered.

* * *

After they had finished their lunch and returned to the station, Beth had found an unoccupied room with a computer in. She turned it on and typed Tessa's name into crimin. Nothing. She'd then entered Tessa's name into PNC, again, nothing. Beth sat back in her chair, frustrated. There was something not right about Tessa. She had known it when they had gone back to her house. But for now, there was nothing she could do about it except forget it. So that's what she did.

**Thank you to Hollie, Krissie, Aileen, Jo, Firebird590 and WaterlooRoad-x for all the lovely reviews. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	3. In the Shadows

**Chapter 3**

A week after the disastrous meeting with Tessa Nelson, Beth had firmly pushed the woman to the back of her mind. The case had been temporarily closed, but would remain that way if no more information came to light which could help them arrest the mugger. Beth hadn't heard anymore from Tessa, and she was glad. If there was one thing she didn't appreciate, it was people wasting her time when someone else needed it more.

* * *

Beth was sat in the canteen reading a magazine while she ate her lunch. The canteen was empty bar a few other uniformed officers and one member of CID. A certain DS Max Carter to be more precise. Every so often, he would glance quickly in her direction. She had looked up and caught him doing it, and as soon as he realised she had seen him, his eyes dropped back down to his food. A small smile appeared on Beth's face; she had been the one trying to get his attention for so long now that it was almost comical that he appeared to be doing the same thing. Will walked across the canteen and sat in front of Beth, blocking her view of Max.

"Will? Couldn't you have sat one seat over?" Beth said in an exasperated tone. Will looked confused until he turned round and saw Max sat there, then a cheeky grin appeared on his face,

"Are you stalking Max again? As a police officer, you should know that stalking is a very bad crime which can get you sent away for a long time." Will said faux seriously.

"Tell that to him, not me! He's the one disturbing my lunch by looking at me all the time! Here I am trying to eat my lunch in peace, reading my magazine, and I can feel him looking at me!" Beth explained.

"Yeah sure Beth, whatever!" Will said with a chuckle.

"It's true!" Beth whined.

"What's true?" Jess asked, as her and Sally slid their lunch trays onto the table. Jess took a seat next to Will, while Sally took the seat next to Beth.

"Beth reckons that Max is eyeing her up." Will said, rolling his eyes.

"Again?" Jess asked.

Beth gave a pointed look to Will, one that screamed I-told-you-so. "Yep, that's the second time in two days!"

"Wow, just wow Beth." Will said with a wink as he left the canteen.

* * *

Jess, Beth and Sally had all finished their lunch and were taking a slow stroll back to the patrol cars, ready to go and scout the local estates for troublemakers. Jess and Sally had just said goodbye to her when Millie came up to her, her trademark smile on her face.

"Alright Beth?" Millie asked, "Ready to go back out onto the mean streets of Sun Hill?"

Beth laughed and nodded her head, "If we have to I suppose."

"I'll just grab my jacket, and I'll meet you in the car?" Millie questioned.

"Sure, I'll wait." Beth said with a smile as Millie split off into the changing rooms.

"Beth!" a male voice shouted from down the corridor. Beth turned round, and for a split second she thought it had been Max calling her, but it was Nate. "There's a package for you in reception, Mel told me to tell you to go and get it."

"Cheers Nate." Beth said gratefully as she turned round and walked back the way she had just come. She pressed the buzzer to let her into the main reception area and waited for the man who was talking to Mel to go so she could get her package. Mel finally got rid of the man and smiled tiredly at Beth.

"Good timing." Mel said quietly, wary that the man was nearby.

"How's it feel being stuck on the desk while they find a new receptionist?" Beth asked with a small smile.

"Brilliant. This is what I signed up for." Mel said sarcastically. She rooted around in the cubby holes under the desk until she found what she was looking for. "Here you go, it came with the post." Mel handed the nondescript brown envelope to Beth. She frowned.

"Why would they send it here and not to my home?" she wondered aloud.

"Maybe they didn't know your home address?" Mel suggested.

"Yeah maybe. Thanks Mel." Beth said, still distracted by the envelope.

* * *

She buzzed herself back into the main station and walked slowly down to the female changing rooms. Luckily there was no-one in there, so she took a seat and slid her finger under the flap, giving herself a paper cut. She sighed and placed the tip of her finger in her mouth, wetting the cut. She wiped the blood off with a tissue and pulled out what was in the envelope. It was a card. But it wasn't her birthday or anything like that, so why would someone send her a card? She turned it over, and her eyes widened in shock and confusion. Someone had sent her a card with a bunch of lilies on the front, with the phrase "_Deepest sympathies"_ written underneath. No-one Beth knew had died recently, so who the hell had sent it. She fumbled, trying to open it and read what had been written. In block capital letters, someone had simply written;

_FOR BETH, MY SINCERE SYMPATHIES_

That was it; nothing more nothing less. Beth hastily stuffed the card back into the envelope, opening her locker and stuffing it at the back. There was something not right going on here, and it was freaking her out, that was for sure.

* * *

As with the whole Tessa Nelson situation, Beth tried hard to put the card to the back of her mind, but it kept coming back to her at odd moments. That night she had gone home, had a luxurious bath with a glass of wine, and promptly gone to bed. But that night she was tossing and turning, dreaming of funerals, of hers and of the people she loved. It just wouldn't go away, and that's what worried her the most. Something about the card just didn't feel right; Beth's instincts were screaming at her, but what they were screaming she didn't know what.

* * *

The following day, Beth was working the late shift. She got to the station at five in the afternoon, and she would be working straight through until five in the morning. The team had been briefed; they were to concentrate on the local clubs in the area amidst the rumours of a sudden increase in drug dealing from the clubs. Beth was in a car with Millie, Leon and Will for the night, which made her a lot happier and allowed her to temporarily let the knot in her stomach release slightly. As they drove out the station, Beth glanced out her window, and then looked again. Something or someone had caught her eye. A flash of pale blonde hair, paired with dark, searching eyes. Beth groaned, convinced she was losing her mind.

"What's up?" Millie asked, turning to face Beth.

Beth paused, wondering if she should tell her friends, but decided against it. After all, it was just her being paranoid, "Er, I just remembered that I forgot to let the cat out the house before I left, that's all."

"I didn't know you had a cat?" Will said, confused.

Crap. "Erm, yeah, I'm cat sitting for my neighbour." Beth said, not convincing even herself for a minute. Millie looked as if she was going to push it, but thought better and just smiled at Beth instead.

* * *

Twelve hours. Twelve long, cold hours, spent driving round the estates and checking out the clubs. How many arrests had she made? One. One lousy arrest. How much action had she seen tonight? None. No one had attempted to beat on her when she tried to move them on, no one had thrown their drink at her, no one had even tried to spit at her. It should have been a good night for her, and normally she would see it as a good night, but that meant she didn't have to concentrate, and because she wasn't concentrating much simply because she didn't need to, her mind kept wandering back to the card she had received, and to Tessa Nelson. Her brain fired; were the two connected?

* * *

Walking back to her house, hands shoved deep into her pockets, hat pulled down over her ears, her long black hair flowing out behind her. She just wanted to get home. She wanted a cup of tea, her fleecy pyjamas, and her bed. As soon as Beth got out of the lights of the station and onto the dark street, she felt uneasy. Normally she was fine walking home in the dark, in fact she liked it. It gave her a chance to think over what had happened on the shift, gave her a chance to breathe, and gave her a chance to savour the sleeping city. But not tonight for some reason. It was like her brain was in overdrive ever since she had thought of the possibility of Tessa Nelson and the card she received being connected. The hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood up, and Beth stopped walking. She spun round quickly, but there was no-one behind her, only darkness. Beth hurried to the next streetlight and stood underneath it, fumbling in her bag. She finally heard the jangle of keys, and quickly arranged the keys so that they protruded out her knuckles, makeshift Wolverine claws. It made her feel a bit better that if anyone was following her and were to try anything, she could try and protect herself. Her house was two streets away, but one of the roads she had to walk down had awful street lighting which would often flicker or just completely go out. She took a deep breath, checked behind her once more, and started to walk.

* * *

She was home. Thank God. She hurried up the steps, stumbling in her haste. She placed her hand out to stop her head smacking the concrete step, and grazed her hand. She swore under her breath before picking herself up and taking her keys out from her knuckles and placing them in the lock. It took her two tries before the door opened because her hands were shaking so much. As soon as the door was open, she flitted in, slamming it behind her, locking it and pulling the deadbolt across. She turned all the lights on as she ran past them into the kitchen, shutting the blinds and locking the backdoor. _Get a grip Beth_ she thought to herself as she turned the kitchen light off, satisfied that the house was pretty secure to things that go bump in the night. She walked slowly back into the living room, the knot in her stomach seeming to throb, her heart rate slowly returning to normal. She crept up to the living room window, peering out through the blinds. Again, that flash of pale blonde hair and intense brown eyes. But when Beth looked closer, it had disappeared.

**Took a while, but here it is. Thanks as always to the lovely reviewers; you know who you are, but just in case you forgot, that would be Hollie, Jo, Krissie, Aileen, Em, WRobsessed and 133.**


	4. Scream

**Chapter 4**

Two weeks after the meeting with Tessa Nelson, and Beth was on edge. She didn't feel comfortable in her own home, not after getting the feeling that she was being followed home. She hated walking home in the dark now, so if she had the late shift, she would get a cab the short distance home. She was afraid, and she didn't like it.

* * *

Beth arrived at work an hour before her shift was due to start. She preferred getting into work early and staying late if it avoided going home and feeling like she was being watched. She knew she should probably tell someone about the card, and the person who had followed her home, but there were no leads, nothing to give an indication of who the person was. And anyway, technically, a crime hadn't been committed; sending a card wasn't illegal even if it did freak Beth out, and she couldn't be a 100% sure that she definitely was followed home. She was sat in the canteen, a coffee in one hand, a pen in the other. In front of her was a notebook; she was trying to see if there was any connection between the two occurrences, but there was nothing. She sighed frustratedly, slamming the notebook shut, resting her head in her hands. When she looked up, she nearly jumped out her skin. DS Max Carter was leaning on the chair opposite her, holding out an iced bun on a plate.

"I've heard that these are good for stress." he said absolutely dead pan, extending the plate towards Beth. She took it from him with a small smile, setting it on top of the notebook.

"Thanks sarge. I do like these." she said with a laugh, picking at the icing.

"Can I sit down?" Max asked.

"Sure, go ahead." she said, trying to appear nonchalant, trying to ignore that her pulse had just jumped into warp speed mode.

Max indicated the notebook, "What were you getting so frustrated about, if you don't mind me asking?"

Beth looked at Max carefully, wondering why he was so interested. She didn't know whether to tell him what was happening or not. "Um, just trying to connect the dots, y'know?"

"Care to expand on that?" Max pushed.

Beth shook her head, "Not yet. Not until I've got the link I'm looking for." Beth gathered her notebook, finished off her coffee and wrapped the iced bun in a napkin to take with her, "Thanks for the bun sarge."

"Anytime. And Beth?" Max called, just as Beth had started to walk off.

"Yeah?" she called back.

"If you need a fresh set of eyes on whatever link you're trying to find, let me know." Max offered.

Beth was shocked to say the least. What was getting into Max recently? He was actually behaving like a gentleman who was helping others rather than only looking out for himself. "Oh, right, thanks, I will." As she walked out the canteen, Max stared after her, like Beth, wondering what the hell had got into him.

* * *

The strange conversation with Max in the canteen that morning had left Beth in a ponderous mood, causing her to completely forget about her worries. Millie noticed that Beth seemed content, different from the jumpy officer she had been the past few days.

"What's changed?" Millie asked suddenly as they walked around the Jasmine Allen Estate.

"Hmm?" Beth asked, snapped out of her reverie.

"Well, all this past week you've been really jumpy and paranoid, especially when we've been on the night shift. But today, you're different, so what's changed?" Millie asked, her brown eyes locking with Beth's blue ones.

"Nothing, nothing's changed." Beth said, a bit too quickly.

"Is there something going on?" Millie questioned. Once again Beth wondered whether to tell someone about her worries, but again, she pushed it to the back of her mind.

"No, everything's fine, honest. Now come on, let's go." Beth said with a tight smile.

* * *

They got back to the station just after lunch time. As they walked through to the locker rooms, Smithy jogged up to them.

"Beth? There's a call for you in reception. He said it was urgent." Smithy said with a smile.

"Thanks sarge." Beth said gratefully and hurried to reception, shouting over her shoulder to Millie that she'd meet her in the canteen. She buzzed herself through to reception and picked up the phone, picking up the call on line 2. "PC Green speaking."

"Beth? It's James from next door." James said, just in case Beth didn't recognise the voice. James was a few years older than Beth and had lived next door since she had first moved in. He had been very welcoming to her, and they had become good friends over the years.

"James? My sergeant told me that you said it was urgent? Are you ok?" Beth asked hurriedly. She liked James and would be gutted if anything ever happened to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just you got a delivery today, and obviously cause you weren't there I took the delivery for you. Basically I'm worried." James answered.

"Why? What's the package? I don't remember ordering anything." Beth said in a confused voice.

"Can I come in? I'll bring the package with me." James suggested.

"Erm, yeah sure. Can you be here in about ten minutes? I'm on my lunch break, so that would be good if you could?" Beth asked.

"Yeah course. I'll see you in a minute. Shall I go to reception?" James asked.

"Yeah, I'll wait for you here. See you soon." Beth said, putting the phone down. She sat for a minute, wondering what on Earth could be in that package that had made James so worried.

* * *

James walked into reception, his dark hazel eyes scanning for Beth. He saw her small frame leaning against the reception desk and walked over, giving her a quick hug.

"So, what's this package then?" Beth asked immediately, leading him into the small room off of reception. James places the box on the table. It's rectangular, and Beth see's that is has the name of a local flower company written on it. She laughed, and James looked at her in confusion.

"Beth, I wouldn't laugh about it, it's serious." James said, his brow furrowed.

"But it's just a box of flowers! What's there to worry about?" Beth asked confused, the laughter dying down.

"Open the box." James said quietly.

Beth's face became one of uncertainty as she moved towards the box on the table and gingerly opened the flower box. She slowly took the lid off, dropping it and screaming as she saw what was in the box. James scooped the lid of the floor and jammed it back onto the box. The door to the room swung open, revealing Max and Smithy.

"What's going on? PC Green, are you ok?" Smithy asked in concern, noting James stood next to the box and Beth stood in the corner of the room, her shaking hands covering her mouth.

"Who are you?" Max asked, eyebrows raised.

"I'm James Milton, Beth's neighbour. I signed for a delivery for Beth, but it wasn't what I thought it was, so I brought it in to show Beth cause I was concerned." James answered hurriedly.

"Beth?" Smithy said gently to Beth, whose eyes had filled with tears. She quickly swiped the tears away and took a deep breath. "What's in the box?"

"I can't..." Beth began to say just as Max opened the box. His face turned to one of revolt and disgust.

"Smithy, take a look at this." Max said quietly to the sergeant. Smithy looked from Beth to Max, before looking at what was in the box. His face mirrored Max's.

"Who is it from?" Smithy asked, looking at James.

"I don't know. There was this card which came with it." James said, fishing the card out his back pocket and handing it to Smithy. Smithy pulled on a pair of gloves before opening the envelope. He held it so that Max could read it as well. Inside it simply said

_For all you've done_

* * *

Once Beth had calmed down enough, Smithy had taken a statement from James before thanking him and sending him on his way. He took Beth upstairs to CID, sitting her down and going to get Max and Grace who would be investigating who had sent this to her.

"Hi Beth." Grace said with a small nod. Beth returned the gesture. "DS Carter tells me that you've just received a package of rotting flowers covered with maggots. Is that correct?"

"Yes, unfortunately." Beth said, shivering delicately.

"Right, what we want you to do is write down everything that's happened recently which seems out of the ordinary. So it could be anything, like strange phone calls, or letters received, absolutely anything. Ok?" Grace asked. Beth nodded and set about her task.

An hour later she had written down only three things. Two of the things she had written were the things that had plagued her for the last two weeks, worrying her and making her feel unsafe. And the third thing was the "gift" she had received today. She handed the list to Grace and Max who quickly looked over it.

"So you received a "Deepest Sympathies" card, you felt like you were followed home, and now this package. Why didn't you mention any of this?" Max asked, looking up at Beth.

"Because I didn't think it was anything to worry about. Obviously that was a mistake on my part." Beth answered.

"This was what you were working on this morning right? You were trying to find if there was a link between the card and the person following you home? And because you were so frustrated, I'll hazard a guess that you couldn't link them, correct?" Max guessed. Beth nodded.

"Ok Beth. From what you've written and from what we know, these are all the hallmarks of a stalker." Grace said seriously.

Beth was utterly shocked. Why would someone want to stalk her? "What? I don't understand."

"This person, whoever they are, appears to be making your life difficult, probably because of something you've done to them, whether knowingly or not. They're acting like a spurned lover, wanting you to notice them and "take them back" effectively." Grace explained.

"Have you just broken up with someone or ended a relationship on bad terms?" Max asked, perching on his desk.

"No, I haven't had a serious relationship for a while now." Beth answered,

"What about that James guy? Your neighbour? Would he have any reason to do this?" Max questioned.

"No way. James is my friend, he looks out for me. Trust me, it's not him." Beth said vehemently.

"Right, well what about any shouts you've been to recently? Have any of them thrown up something potentially strange?" Grace asked.

"Maybe? I don't know." Beth said tiredly.

"It's ok Beth, don't worry." Max said in what he thought was a pretty good convincing voice

"Don't worry? Are you serious? I have a stalker who has followed me home and has now sent me rotting flowers! Of course I'm worried!" Beth cried, leaning back in the chair, running her fingers through her hair. Grace shot a look at Max, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Beth listen, can you write down all the people that you think could have done this to you? Go back a few months ok? Even if you don't think the person could have done it, but there's a possibility, write it down anyway. We'll leave you to it." Grace said quietly, briefly touching Beth's shoulder comfortingly before dragging Max away from her.

* * *

Done. Her list of potential stalkers was done. It was three pages long, but that was because she'd gone back a few months like Grace had asked, and there were plenty of criminal's she had arrested or upset who could have done this. She also added Tessa Nelson onto the list, not because she thought she had done it, but because she thought she had the potential capability to do it. As she sat back and flicked through the list, a feeling or utter terror washed through her. What was she going to do?

**Thank you to those lovely reviewers of mine! Sorry this one has taken a while, I don't have any excuses other than I wasn't in a writing mood. But anyway, thanks to Hollie, Aileen, Krissie, Jo and WRObsessed. **


	5. Smashed Mirrors

**Chapter 5**

Once Beth had gone through her list with Grace and Max, and after crossing off half the list, Beth was tired. She was tired of being scared, she was tired of always looking over her shoulder, she was just tired. Smithy came up to CID, looking for her.

"Beth?" he said softly, noting that she was practically asleep in the chair.

"Sarge?" she replied, blinking a few times to clear her mind.

"Come on, I'll take you home." he offered, holding the door open out of CID.

"It's fine sarge, I'll just get a cab. Thanks though." Beth replied.

"PC Green, get your things out your locker and meet me at the car." Smithy said sternly, but there was a smile on his face. Beth's face mirrored his.

"Thanks sarge." she said gratefully. As she was about to leave CID, Max jogged over to her.

"Beth? Are you off now?" he asked her quietly.

"Yes I am, why? Is there something else you need?" she asked.

"No, I just...if you ever need anything, or you think something's not right, give me a call ok? I'll be straight there. Just, be careful." Max said, tripping over the strange words coming out his mouth.

Beth looked slightly taken aback, but she finally nodded, "Thank you. I will. Bye sarge."

"Bye." Max half raised his hand and watched her follow Smithy down the stairs. Man, he had it bad.

* * *

Smithy pulled the patrol car smoothly next to the kerb. He switched off the ignition and just sat for a minute.

"Beth, do you think it's wise for you to stay here? Me and the Inspector think you should stay with friends, like Jess or Sally." Smithy said tentatively, knowing that Beth wouldn't like the idea.

"No sarge, I'm not going to let this person run me out of my own home! I'm not the one who should hide away!" Beth cried, sharper than she intended, "Sorry, I'm just...a bit stressed to say the least."

"I thought you might say that. Don't worry, I'd be the same. Do you want me to come in and check the place before I go?" Smithy offered.

"Erm, no, thanks. I just want to get in, have a glass of wine, take a bath and go to bed." Beth said, slowly relaxing just at the thought of it.

"Ok, if you're sure. By the way, don't bother coming in tomorrow ok? The Inspector has given you a few days off." Smithy said kindly.

"Thank you, but that wasn't necessary. I feel safe at work; I don't like just sitting at home." Beth argued.

"Beth, just take the days off. Go shopping, catch up with the family, just don't come to work." Smithy said with a smile.

Beth sighed, but she relented, "Alright then, I'll see you in a few days. Bye sarge." Beth said with a wave as she got out the car and sprinted up the stairs, trying to avoid getting wet. She waved as Smithy pulled away and drove off.

* * *

Beth finally got her keys out her bag and thrust them into the look, turning it hastily and shoving the door open, shaking the water off before shutting the door behind her. As she took a step forward, something crunched under her foot. She frowned, and flicked on the lights, illuminating the hall. The first thing she saw was her pale face staring back at her a million times. She looked up from the glass littered on the pale wooden floor, spying that her beautiful vintage mirror she had saved up for had been smashed; now it was just a sad looking shell. She couldn't stop her lip trembling as the full realisation of what she was seeing hit her; someone had been in her house. Next thing she saw was a picture of her, Sally and Jess had been smashed, the glass glinting on the sideboard like diamonds. But on closer inspection, she noticed that her face in the photo had been defaced, completely scratched out. She slowly picked her way over the glass on the floor, moving into the living room, seeing more glass shattered onto the cream carpet. The mirror in there had been smashed as well, along with any photo that had her in it. Her breathing sped up, her heart pounded in her chest as she ran round the rest of the house. Every single mirror in her house had been smashed up. Every single photo of her in her house had been smashed up. Every single photo of her in her house had been defaced so that you wouldn't even be able to tell it was her. Panic and fear rose like a tide in her, and she sprinted up the stairs into her room.

* * *

Beth skidded to a stop when she opened her closed bedroom door. She intended to pack a bag as quickly as possible and go to either Sally's or Jess'. But as her door swung open, she had to stifle the cry that was about to leave her mouth. Her clothes were spread across the floor like a tapestry. All her drawers were devoid of their contents, her wardrobe doors were open, but the inside was empty. Her tops, her dressed, even her underwear had been expelled from its home. She knelt onto the floor, searching through all her clothes, trying to figure out if anything had been taken. She knew that she should just scoop some clothes up and go, but the police officer in her just had to know what had been taken. Once she had leafed through all her clothes, she realised that her favourite tight, dark blue top had been taken, the one she wore when she went out clubbing. As she stood up to inventory the rest of the room, she spied that her perfume bottles had been tampered with. She walked over, and found that her favourite perfume, Armani Code, had been taken. Why the hell would her stalker want her top and perfume? Unless the person was trying to be her, trying to take her place...but then that would mean the person who had been stalking her was a woman after all. And then it all fit together. Tessa Nelson.

* * *

Beth sat on the edge of her bed and picked up the phone. She tried to dial Max's personal line, but her fingers were shaking so much that she had to do it three times before she finally entered the right number.

"DS Max Carter." he said briskly.

"Max? It's Beth. I need help; someone's been in my house." Beth said tearfully. This time she couldn't stop the tears.

"Beth? Are you ok? You're not hurt are you?" Max asked her hurriedly. He signalled for Grace to come over, and then put the phone on speaker, "Beth, you're on speaker to me and Grace. Tell us what happened."

"When Smithy dropped me off, I went into the house and my hall mirror had been smashed, as well as a photo of me with Sally and Jess. As I went round the rest of the house, all my mirrors had been smashed, and any photo with me in was smashed and my face was defaced. My room, she's been in my room, my clothes are everywhere. She's taken my favourite top and perfume, and I don't know what to do. What if she's in the house Max? What if she comes for me?" Beth said, nearly hysterical.

"Beth listen to me, you need to keep calm ok? We're going to be there as soon as possible. Just stay in your room, shut your bedroom door, and do not come out until we're there. Keep calm." Max repeated again, his heart starting to feel funny. Then he realised. His heart was aching for this woman who was in pain and who was fearful for her life. This woman whom he loved.

"Ok, please, don't be long." Beth begged.

"We won't, I promise." Max said. He hung up the phone, grabbed his coat and ran out of CID, Grace hot on his heels.

* * *

Beth sat in her room with the door shut like Max had said, listening for any unusual sounds in the house. But with the force of a train, she felt sick. She ran to the door, yanking it open, and hurried down the corridor to kneel in front of the toilet. All her fear, all this stress, was making her ill. She got up, flushed the chain and rinsed her mouth out. As she was drying her hands, she could hear the front door opening, and furniture being moved out the way.

"Thank God." she whispered to herself.

"Beth?" A female voice called, Grace she thought.

"I'll be there in a minute." she called back, her voice still shaky. She walked out into the hall and heard footsteps coming up the stairs. But it wasn't Grace who appeared at the top of the stairs. Oh no, it was Tessa Nelson, dressed in Beth's tight blue top, wearing a long, dark brown wig, similar to Beth's own hair. And as Beth breathed in, the smell of her favourite perfume wafted across to her.

"Hello again PC Green." Tessa said sinisterly, pointing a gun straight at Beth's heart. Beth screamed as loudly as she could and ran into her room, slamming the door shut and locking it behind her. She skittered over to the bed, yanking at the phone. She dialled in Max's mobile number and tried to hold the phone still to her ear. But there was nothing. No dial tone. No engaged tone. Nothing. Tessa had cut her phone wires. Sobs racked her body as she clumsily made her way across the room and sunk down the wall behind the wardrobe. Beth wasn't a religious person, but she prayed that Max and Grace would get there soon.

**Lovely cliffhanger there for you! I do believe this is the penultimate chapter, so this story is only a short one. I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks as always to my lovely reviewers Jo, Hollie, LittleBit100, Aileen and Krissie.**


	6. Leap of Faith

**Chapter 6**

Beth's arms were wrapped around her knees; her whole body was trying to shrink into itself, to try and magically get away from here. Her body was aching with the suppressed sobs, and she was shaking with fear. That's when the banging started. Tessa started to thump on the door, heavy sounding thumps.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Beth screamed, tears streaming down her face. The banging stopped.

"Beth? Beth come out! I won't hurt you; I just want to talk to you!" Tessa said through the door, almost like she was coaxing Beth out.

"Listen you crazy bitch, I am not coming out there! You've got a gun! My colleagues will be here in a minute, and they will lock you up for a long time!" Beth shouted.

"Oh Beth. That was a silly thing to do wasn't it." Tessa said in a disappointed voice.

"GO AWAY!" Beth screamed again, her throat feeling raw.

"Beth, I just want to be you! Why can't you see that? You're so selfish! All I want is to be like you, exactly like you! You're so beautiful and kind, and everyone loves you! Men love you. Women love you. Everyone wants to be you!" Tessa cried through the door. She started to bang on the door again, a relentless droning noise. "BETH! ANSWER ME!"

"Tessa, you can't be me, because I am me! Go away before you get hurt!" Beth pleaded.

There was a sinister laugh from behind the door, "Beth, I'm not going anywhere. It's you who's gonna be hurt. Do you want to know my plan Beth?"

"No, I just want you to leave, please, just leave." Beth begged.

"I'm going to kill you Beth." Tessa said matter of factly, "I'm going to kill you and take your place. No-one would notice. I'll get rid of your body, and I would just take your place."

Beth began to shake violently. She couldn't stay here with that crazy psycho bitch outside the door. "It will never work, do you know why? Because the people I love aren't stupid! They know what a psycho looks like!" Beth screamed as she picked herself off the floor. All she wanted to do was rile Tessa up enough so that she could try and form an escape without Tessa noticing. Sure enough, Tessa started to scream, banging on the door with her fists, demanding to be let it. Beth turned and looked at the window; an idea formed in her head.

* * *

Beth sprinted over to her window, fumbling with the key to unlock it. She finally got the key in and turned it, pushing the window open as far as it would go. She could fit through, but only just. And even if she did get through, it was at least a fifteen foot drop onto solid concrete. She ran her shaking fingers through her hair; what other choice did she have? Beth had decided that her best way to escape was through the window. She pulled over her chair and stood on it. As she was about to put one leg through the slither of a gap, there was a gun shot behind her. Beth nearly fell off the chair in fear. She turned and saw a clear bullet hole in the door.

"YOU STUPID LITTLE BITCH! I'm gonna shoot the lock out, and I swear to God I will kill you. You can't stop me. D'you hear me? YOU CAN'T STOP ME!" Tessa howled.

Beth swiped the tears that were dripping down her face. She took a deep breath and made the decision. She would rather die by her own means than by Tessa's. She managed to get one leg out the window. It was raining heavily outside, and it beginning to get dark. As soon as her leg was out, it was covered in goose bumps, but there was no time to pull more clothes on now, she just needed to get out. Once one leg was as secure as it could be in the circumstances on the outside window ledge, she slipped the rest of her body sideways out of the gap. She clung on to the frame of the window, her knuckles going white with the force that she was holding on.

"Don't look down." she whispered to herself. She shut her eyes and placed both feet onto the window ledge. Right, she was out. She realised that she would have to look down in order to work out the best way to get down without getting hurt. As she slid across the window ledge some more, another gunshot echoed through the house. She didn't look at the damage this time, instead assessing her surroundings. As Beth turned to her left, she noted that the bay window had a slightly angled roof. If she could get to there, she would be able to stand on the bay window roof and then shimmy down the piping to get to the short wall which separated her house from the next. From there it was a small drop to the ground. She might actually be able to get out of this predicament alive.

* * *

Beth was soaked to the skin. The rain was unrelenting and cold, so very cold. She was trying so hard not to shiver, but it was making her muscles ache not to. Although she now had a plan, in order to get onto the bay window roof, she would have to jump from the tiny ledge she was currently on. If she misjudged the jump in the tiniest way, she would fall, either breaking a bone or five, or dying. She had never been so scared or so fearful in her life. "Come on, you're Beth Green, pull yourself together and get down safely." she said to herself. She took a deep breath in and slid across the window ledge as far as possible. She was gripping the frame of the window for dear life, and she wasn't sure if she could let go. Slowly, she dropped into a crouch, her arms extended above her head, still gripping the window frame. She stretched her left leg out as far as possible, and if she really stretched, her foot just about scraped the edge of the bay window. She looked for something else to grab onto, and spied the gutted just a bit over from her. She released one shaking hand from its position on the window frame and quickly grabbed the gutter, which felt more secure than the window frame. Once one hand was firmly wrapped around the gutter, she placed her left foot as securely as possible on the sloped bay window roof. She extended the rest of her body, smoothly moving it from right to left. To get onto the roof properly, Beth would have to make a small jump. She took a deep breath and held it as she leaped the short distance. She landed precariously on the roof, pitching herself forward and grabbing onto the gutter with both hands before she slipped off. She let out a cry, realising she had made it. Now she would be able to get down safely.

* * *

Beth manoeuvred herself to the edge of the roof and swung her legs over the edge. She stretched down until they were on the short wall, and spun round so that she could drop herself down. As soon as she was on the wall, an unmarked police car came screeching up the road, the blue lights seemingly magnified in the pouring rain. As soon as it stopped, Max and Grace were out the car like a shot. Beth jumped onto the concrete floor and stood frozen. She had done it. She had made it out her house without getting shot or falling to her death. Her body emitted a loud wail as she realised how close she had come.

* * *

Max's body tensed as he heard Beth's scream. He spun around, trying to see through the lashing rain. He looked closer, and was sure that he saw Beth at the side of the house. He jogged over, and yes, it was her. She was leaning against the side of the house, shaking violently. Her hair was plastered to her back, her body was soaked through.

"Beth? It's Max. Beth?" he said again, standing right in front of her. Her eyes were unseeing, her mouth open in a silent scream.

"She's got a gun." she managed to blurt out before collapsing in front of Max. He caught her before she hit the ground, cradling her shivering, soaked form tightly to his chest.

"Grace! Call an ambulance, call SO19. Tessa Nelson is armed; do not go in the house." Max shouted to Grace.

"This is an ambulance call. I need an ambulance to 15 Lakewood Drive, that's 15 Lakewood drive. Female in her early twenties has collapsed. Priority call please." Grace said rapidly into her radio. She then radioed in for armed support, explaining the situation quickly. As soon as it was confirmed that they were on their way, Grace moved over to where Max was saw leaning against the wall with Beth in his arms. She was still out cold. Max had placed his coat over her, trying to keep her as warm as possible. "I'll get the blanket out the car." Grace shouted over the wind. She was there and back in a minute, gently placing the blanket over Beth and part of Max.

"Thanks Grace. Wait in the car until SO19 and the ambulance arrives. Call into the station what's happened." Max ordered.

"Yes sarge." Grace replied, hurrying over to the car.

* * *

"Beth? Can you hear me? It's Max." Max said loudly. There was no response from Beth. "Come on, you can't do this to me, not now! I'm having enough troubles with my heart without you doing this to me. Come on, Beth, wake up now! Now Beth!" Still nothing. He smoothed her hair off of her frozen face, wrapping the blanket tighter around her slight frame. She was so small, compared to him, so delicate and fragile looking. But underneath all that fragility was a tough, spunky copper who didn't let her height get in the way of nailing criminals double her size and weight. Max looked up as sirens echoed down the street; it was the ambulance, closely followed by SO19. He gathered Beth into his arms and sprinted across to where the ambulance had pulled up. The paramedics hopped out, running over to Max.

"What happened?" the male paramedic asked as he opened the doors to the back, helping Max into the back.

"I don't know. When we arrived I found her at the side of the house, I think she was in shock. She said that the woman had a gun, and then she just went. Is she gonna be ok?" Max asked worriedly, watching as the female paramedic slipped an oxygen mask onto her face and hooked her up to all kind of machines.

"From what you've said, I'm going to say that she's fainted due to an intense shock. She also seems to have mild hypothermia, so we'll need to get her warmed up." the male paramedic answered, and Max was shocked to see that in the light of the ambulance, Beth's skin was near white, and her lips were blue.

"Are you coming with us?" the female paramedic asked as she tucked a blanket around Beth's prone body.

"No, I need to arrest this crazy woman. I'll follow as soon as I'm finished up here. Take care of her." Max said sternly. The paramedic's nodded, and Max gently brushed his fingers along the line of Beth's jaw before getting out the ambulance and following SO19 into the house.

* * *

"PUT THE GUN DOWN!" the lead SO19 officer shouted as soon as he had Tessa in sight. Two other armed officers came up behind him and took up positions.

Tessa has pressed herself into a corner, the gun in her limp hand. She was sobbing, the wig had slipped, and she looked utterly crazy. Max came up behind the officers, standing behind the one closest to Tessa.

"Tessa? My name is DS Max Carter. You need to put the gun down and come with us, now." Max said harshly.

"Sarge." Grace chided from her position. She shook her head and moved so she was stood next to her sergeant, "Tessa, I'm Grace. Are you ok?"

"I'm not Tessa! My name is Beth Green!" Tessa wailed.

"Ok, Beth. Why don't you put the gun down and we can have a little chat, hmm?" Grace said gently.

"I don't want to talk, why can't you understand that?" Tessa said, looking up at Grace through bloodshot eyes.

"Ok, we don't have to talk, that's fine. But I do need you to put the gun down." Grace pushed slowly.

"I'm a police officer, I'm allowed a gun." Tessa replied.

"No Tes...I mean Beth. Only these special police officers are allowed guns aren't they. Come on, just slip it over to me, and then we can go to the station and have a nice hot drink." Grace said, coaxing Tessa out.

"Yeah?" Tessa asked hopefully.

"Yes." Grace said with a smile. Tessa nodded, placing the gun slowly by her side. As soon as the gun was out of her hand, the armed officers began shouting at her to move away. As soon as they started shouting, she screamed, grabbing the gun again.

"You lied! Why did you lie to me?" Tessa screamed, the gun pointed at Grace. Tessa's hand was shaking violently.

"You need to put the gun down otherwise they will shoot you." Max said bluntly.

"No way, I'm not going to let them kill me." Tessa said defiantly. And in one swift movement, she raised the gun to her head and pulled the trigger.

* * *

Beth had regained consciousness and was in resus while they warmed her body up. She was a degree under the optimum temperature, and the doctors wanted to keep her heavily monitored in case anything went wrong. She couldn't remember a lot of what had happened; the doctor said that could happen with traumatic events. She remembered being more scared that she had ever been in her life, and also that she had been so cold. And interestingly, she remembered a male voice, almost like it was telling her off, something to do with his heart. She sighed, thinking that he mind was playing tricks on her. The doors to resus swung open, and she slowly looked up. Coming towards her was Max Carter.

"You're awake." Max said, wanting to slap himself on the forehead. Way to state the obvious, genius, he muttered to himself.

"Yeah, I am. What happened, I don't remember much." Beth asked, leaning her head into the pillows.

"Tessa Nelson is what happened. She came to your house, completely trashed the place. We think you were locked in your room, and she was outside, but we have no idea how you made it out the house." Max said, shaking his head in confusion as he leaned against the metal bars of the bed. Beth suddenly remembered exactly what had happened, and started to shake. The monitors connected to her heart started to beep quicker as Beth remembered.

"She was going to kill me and take my place! She wanted to be me! She said she would hide my body and slip into my life, and no-one would even notice! I climbed out the window; I thought I was going to die. But I got down safely, and they you showed up..." Beth was interrupted as Max pulled her to him spontaneously. This was an unknown situation for the both of them, but it was one which felt right.

"You're ok now, I've got you. You're safe, she won't get you again." Max whispered in her ear. Beth clung to him, not wanting to be left on her own.

"Has she been taken down the nick?" Beth asked quietly.

"No, she's been taken to the morgue. She shot herself dead when we cornered her." Max said, no hint of remorse in his voice.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Beth said, almost to herself.

"Beth?" Max said after they had been silent for a while.

"Hmm?" Beth said, looking up at Max.

"Of course we would notice if you weren't here anymore. I would notice." Max said, almost shyly. She smiled in spite of herself, and when he leaned in to kiss her, she let him.

"Thanks." she replied, shutting her eyes as Max wrapped one hand around her own, gently stroking her cheek with his other hand. It wasn't long until she was sound asleep.

"Sweet dreams." Max whispered, brushing his lips against her warm forehead.

**Da duh! The end! Thanks to all the fabby reviews from Hollie, Krissie, SWebb133, Aileen and WRobsessed. I hope you have enjoyed the story. **


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